Don’t Quit Your Day Job

This fall, moviegoers can see Meet Joe Black, starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt and introducing (perhaps) Steve Tharler. Recently named Direct Marketer of the Year by the New England Direct Marketing Association, Tharler was one of 700 extras mingling at a party in the movie, partially filmed in Newport, R.I., last summer. “It’s the only time I’ve ever worn both a bathing suit and a tuxedo at the same time,” chuckled Tharler, who sometimes went to the beach before shooting. The founder of Tharler/Opper Marketing Communications and Design in Natick, Mass., never lost his love for the big screen. While he started as a direct marketing copywriter, Tharler studied screenwriting on the side and acted for six years with a murder-mystery group. Like so many, Tharler discovered that making movies isn’t all glamor. During the last eight nights of filming, Tharler admitted he was “standing in a tuxedo at three in the morning holding a champagne glass filled with ginger ale.” –Sarah Jones